


Project Guardians

by StarDragonStarFeather



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman Zero | Mega Man Zero
Genre: Family, Feels, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 02:02:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21739732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarDragonStarFeather/pseuds/StarDragonStarFeather
Summary: X is given an opportunity to finally end the Maverick crisis. But with it comes a choice.
Relationships: X/Zero (Rockman)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	Project Guardians

This was not supposed to happen.

All X could do was stare through the one-way glass, shocked. He counted again.  _ One, two, three, four _ . “...How?”

“The experiment was risky. We had to make several specimens as a precaution for possible failure. They all managed to pull through. A great surprise and success.” Lifesaver said, looking into the room as well. His stare was just as cold as his words and X couldn’t fight the wince. He was looking with such emotionless glare as if those were  _ objects _ .

“...That’s not what the agreement was. You were supposed to make a copy of me, and not- not...” X couldn’t finish, feeling a lump in his throat. He agreed to this experiment knowing full well it would be used against him in some way. He simply didn’t expect  _ this _ .

Lifesaver huffed. “One, the agreement didn’t specify how exactly the process of making a copy would look. Two, they would’ve been perfect copies if you didn’t synch left and right like a slut and had your copying protocol hold onto data residue from other reploids.”

X gritted his teeth.

“Zero I can understand, but that woman? I wonder if Zero knows about it.” That smugness in Lifesaver’s voice, how dare-!

“That’s none of your buizness.” X hissed. Those were painful memories, Zero dead after the first war and Marty trying to comfort X after, them synching... It was all that happened between them,  _ nothing more _ .

...Who would’ve thought that it could leave this much of an impact regardless?

One, two, three, four. Three boys, one girl. Two black haired, two blondes. All so little, sitting in a locked nursery-like room with a one-way glass window for the scientists to look inside. Four reploid  _ children _ , something unthinkable until now. Four children made out of X’s DNA. Mostly at least.

The lump in his throat grew and it felt like a ton of rocks was crushing his chest.

“We don’t have all day. There is still much work for me to do. What is your choice?” Lifesaver said coldly, moving to a desk with a computer.

The choice. Oh, the choice.

X agreed to let the Federation labs study his DNA to finally fully decode, analyse and replicate it, including X’s antivirus - the only hope to get rid of the Maverick virus once and for all and to protect reploids from any other similar threats. Still, X didn’t want to leave such a powerful thing in Federation’s hands. He knew better than to trust them. And they knew better than to lose an opportunity like this. So the agreement was formed - two experiments would be conducted. One to make the ultimate antivirus that became “Mother Elf” program, the other to make a replica of X using his data that became… those children.

That’s what caught X off-guard. He expected to see a clone of himself. And while he would have a hard time leaving what would be technically his twin at the mercy of the Feds, he would still choose Mother Elf over him and know that the clone would probably understand if they really would be so similar. But children... Children that were clearly meant to be a bait for X’s feelings so that he would leave Mother Elf in Federation’s hands...

Children that were clearly meant to become specialised soldiers if X left them here, going from the papers Lifesaver passed to him labeled  _ Codename Guardians _ .

Even their names sounded like warships. Fefnir, Harpuia, Leviathan, Phantom. Each meant to be specialised in a different field of combat - ground, air, sea and stealth. All in color-coded clothes, about to start being prepared for their future service to the Federation. About to start training and testing and modifications and who knows what else when they were still so little and defenceless and with no understanding of anything that was going on…

“Doctor Weil wants to start extensive testing on one of the projects soon and that requires preparations.  _ Decide _ .” Lifesaver nagged again, pushing another stash of papers towards X,  _ Codename Mother _ . One he’ll have to sign.

“...You heartless bastards.” X hissed under his nose. They were making him choose between the fate of four and an entire world. To this day he thought his priorities were set in stone and that he would be confident in his initial decision. But now he was presented with the world he’d seen suffer so much, people he worked to protect his entire life, everything he ever believed in... and the children, right here before his very eyes along with drills, blowtorches and other lab tools on the wall to X’s left.

...How will Zero react to their existence? X did tell him about the plan and how he expected it to go. But this twist swept the rug from under his feet. He looked at those two damned stacks of papers. Pen in his hand could be made out of lead given how heavy it felt.

“...I have to call Zero.” X said and cleared his dry throat.

Lifesaver let out an annoyed huff and waved his hand dismissively. “ _ Hurry up _ .” Hearing that, X got out the door and leaned on the wall of the corridor flooded with cold, artificial light. The lab was underground. It dawned on X that those children never saw the sun, the sky, the trees…

It took Zero a bit to pick up. “Hey, X. You done with your-”

“You have to come see this.” X cut Zero off.

“...What? Why?”

“ _ You have to _ . Be here  _ fast _ .” With that X disconnected and hid his face in his hands. Breath in, breath out, head back inside, look at Mother Elf till Zero will arrive. Sounds like a plan.

He combed through all the  _ Codename Mother _ papers carefully. Despite such an underwhelming appearance - a small ball of light with sparkly wings, almost fairy-like - it was an amazingly powerful piece of technology, X had to admit. Silently syncing with all reploids in the given radius and constantly scanning them for viruses or anomalies, repairing or deleting them while acting as an anti-infection measure too? Possibility of it to work on a global scale? It did sound groundbreaking and like everything X ever wished for. A true hope for Hunters to never be needed again...

But it had the possibility to be extremely dangerous if misused and X didn’t trust the Federation one bit. He didn’t trust them with those children either, especially with what they were supposed to become according to those papers.

Safety of four versus safety of the entire world.

Damn every person involved in this project. Creating helpless children to tug on X’s heartstrings and lead him away from the greater good…

Hiss of the door sliding open pulled X out of his thoughts. “Zero?”

“Took long enough…” Lifesaver growled from over his paperwork. He wasn’t surprised that X had called that virus-ridden devilbot here, not with how glued at the hips they were all the time, in more ways than one too. But Lifesaver sure wasn’t happy about that. He tried to expose Zero for what he really was for long without any success and at this point he just wished that, once activated, Mother Elf would make short work of him. Lifesaver wondered if it would also delete children’s data given they were part Zero by design, save for the girl of course. Would make for a good test run if he was able to keep both projects instead of giving one away to go to waste...

X immediately got to Zero and pulled him towards the wall with a glass window for viewing a lab where in a glass tube floated Mother Elf. Then he gave Zero papers. “I need you to read this  _ very carefully _ . Now.”

X looked very serious, so Zero didn’t say a word, instead taking the papers, his lips pressed into a thin line as he studied them. Once done, he gave Lifesaver a distrustful glare as the scientist was standing in front of the other glass window, looking inside at where Zero supposed X’s clone - the other project - was..

“Why are you hesitating, X?” Zero said quietly. He didn’t need to see the clone, the choice seemed pretty clear to him. This thing couldn’t be left with the Feds. But then X put the second bunch of papers into his hands and took him to the other window.

To be honest, X was not sure how Zero would react. He was nervously watching as Zero came to the glass and silently looked at little reploids inside, seemingly unmoved. Everything afterwards happened so fast X didn’t even manage to move nor make a sound until it was already over.

A sudden movement - a punch? Glass cracking, poor children inside crying out in surprise and fear. Then stunned Lifesaver getting yanked over to the pad on the wall, his hand pushed to the scanner and door unlocking after confirming his ID. After that Zero threw Lifesaver to the floor with look disgusted as if he was throwing a sack of rotting sludge instead. He kept watching as the doctor put a hand to his broken nose, artificial blood, oil and bright blue coolant staining his palm and formerly pristine lab coat.

For a split second X wanted to grab Zero by the elbow, drag him out the door and yell for hours, but then crying coming from the room behind glass washed all that away. Before X could think, his feet carried him inside, leaving silently fuming Zero and Lifesaver struggling to get back on his feet.

X kneeled on the colorful floor among all the toys and put his arms around a crying boy with black hair like X’s, but eyes red like Zero’s when- X didn’t really want to think about it and what it could mean for this poor child. Instead he picked the boy up and rocked him gently back and forth. Mother Elf seemed so distant and insignificant now that he was there with a child -  _ his child _ , he finally thought - in his arms and three more approaching him with curious cautiousness. To think a robot like him could feel a protective instinct like this, something so ancient and human… It was fascinating and overwhelming and for a moment he almost thought he’d start crying himself when the boy in his arms - Fefnir, right? - curled up against X’s chest.

“Shhh, Daddy’s here, it’s okay…” He whispered and pet the boy’s head. He seemed to be calming down.

“Daddy…?” The girl looked at him weirdly and stepped closer, then pointed at Zero who appeared in the door. “Is that Mommy? She needs to cut her hair, it’s too long!”

X smiled, trying not to snicker at a little girl calling proud warrior Zero a girl. “No, no. That’s  _ Papa _ . And he likes his hair like this.”

“Sign the damn papers and get out of my lab!” Lifesaver’s sharp yell startled the kids again and made X wince.

“You’re taking us away?” Asked a boy that would look like an exact little copy of X down to his green eyes if only his hair wasn’t blond like Zero’s.

X nodded and scooped the girl into his arms as well, giving Zero an expectant look to pick up the remaining boys. “Come on. Let’s go home.”


End file.
